Startup vet David Weld looks to transform used car business with Auction Edge

Seattle entrepreneur David Weld is fast at work on a new company called Auction Edge that’s coming on the scene in a big way, already gobbling up Spokane-based Auction Pipeline and eyeing several other acquisitions as it builds out a software platform for the wholesale automotive market.

We first came across the company in a SEC filing, which indicated that Auction Edge had raised $6 million of a $10.8 million round. (According to the filing, a portion of the funds were used to buy Auction Pipeline). In an interview today with GeekWire, Weld declined to disclose investors, though he said the money was not provided through venture capital firms.

“I don’t want to tip too many cards yet,” said Weld.

However, he did note that Auction Edge plans to “roll up” several other players in the automobile auction arena. Weld — who is serving as CEO — added that it would be a “decent-sized profitable company out of the gate.” It will be national in scope with five offices, but Weld declined to say how many employees it has at the moment. He hopes to share more details in the coming weeks.

Each year, there are more used cars sold in the U.S. than new vehicles, and increasingly many of them are sold online by large rental car companies such as Avis and Hertz or corporate fleets. The Auction Edge service is designed to “power the entire value chain,” Weld said. Spokane-based AuctionPipeline appears to be one of those puzzle pieces, with the company offering an auction directory and reports of independent auto auctions in the U.S.

Weld is well known in Seattle startup circles, having previously served as president and chief operating officer of Loudeye as well as CEO of Cognisoft and Pivotlink. A former Microsoft program manager, he also previously worked as an entrepreneur-in-residence at Polaris Venture Partners before it shut its Seattle office.

For the past few years, Weld has served as an advisor to Bryan Mistele at INRIX, the fast-growing provider of real-time traffic information.

To help jumpstart Auction Edge, the company has lined up a number of directors. They include Robert McConkey; John Brasher; Emily Barber; Richard Gundy; Michael Hockett; John Luce; Charlotte Pyle; Henry Stanley; and Lynn Weaver.

John Cook is GeekWire's co-founder and editor, a veteran reporter and the longest-serving journalist on the Pacific Northwest tech startup beat. Follow him @johnhcook and email john@geekwire.com.

Comments

Ex_gater

If you ask google, you’ll find out that David Weld was recently the CEO of a company called Messagegate. Messagegate received $7M in funding, then $18M in funding. If you ask anyone who worked over there, the company, which could have been very successful, failed due to poor strategic decisions on the part of Mr. Weld.

Thiago

That’s a clever approach to take. It doesn’t sound like a long lasting application. But temporarily effective, I have no doubt it will be. I wish I’d thought of it! Thiago | http://www.mikeblewitt.com.au